Those fancy markerboards on "ReGenesis"

October 5, 2008 10:40 AM

On the TV show ReGenesis, the scientists constantly scribble with markers on big, transparent boards — here's a clip, and here's another. I am guessing that they are using fluorescent wet-erase markers, perhaps in combination with a black-light lamp to make the paint visible in such low light. Where can I buy a setup like this?
posted by gentle to media & arts (7 comments total)

Something like this?
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:50 AM on October 5, 2008

Why is that website blocked if you're not in canada or the US? I just want to look at the whiteboard..

What's the product tag/information so I can look at similiar products?

-Dan
posted by Lord_Pall at 10:57 AM on October 5, 2008

Don't know. That page says: "We appreciate your interest in viewing our Magnatag Visible Systems website, however we have designed it for viewers in the United States and Canada only, the marketplace we serve." How stupid is that?
posted by gentle at 10:59 AM on October 5, 2008

Here is a link through Hidemyass proxy.
posted by DonSlice at 11:12 AM on October 5, 2008

I emailed you a webarchive file.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 11:13 AM on October 5, 2008

Thanks, guys. KleerBoard looks good. Unfotunately, these morons don't want Europeans like me to buy their product, let alone read about them, so Magnatag is not an option.

I wonder how hard it would be to build a board from scratch; I'm sure I could find some industrial manufacturer who could make an acrylic board of a decent size. To avoid having to make a frame, just make it two meters tall and suitably thick, and attach some sturdy metal wheels. It would be a cool piece of furniture to have at home, too.

Also, I would love to find out how you could use a black-light source to light up the writing. I wonder if you would have to mount several lights along the sides, or if you could mount a single upward-facing light at the foot of the board? And how dark would the room have to be for the writing to be suitably legible that way?
posted by gentle at 12:05 PM on October 5, 2008

This is something that I've been thinking about for awhile, so thanks for prompting me to get off my ass and try some things out.

I just did a test:

I took a piece of clear plexiglass and lined up a blacklight so that the blacklight illuminated the sheet through the top edge. I wrote on it with a yellow fluorescent marker and achieved the appropriate effect (the brightness decreased as I moved down the sheet, so equal lighting around the edges would probably be better). More reactive markers would make it perfect. This was in a room that wasn't terribly dark (light filtering blinds on an overcast day - no light counter so nothing accurate).

I think it would be fairly easy to do this on a larger scale.

I also just found these markers. It says they're specifically for black boards, fluorescent boards and glass.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 1:33 PM on October 5, 2008